Muslims, activists seek space for namaz in Gurugram

Muslims and members from the civil society on Tuesday met Gurugram Divisional Commissioner D. Suresh and sought open space for namaz and an amicable solution to the situation arising from the activities of rightwing outfits.

A meeting was called to plan a response to the ongoing campaign by the Sanyukt Hindu Sangharsh Samiti to disrupt open air Friday namaz in Gurugram.

The delegation demanded that the administration protect those offering of namaz at current locations and sought short-term and long-term solutions to the issue.

"Reclaiming Waqf Board land and plots is a long process. As a short-term solution, the administration must ensure peaceful namaz at current locations which are over 100 in number," said Ishrat Thameem, a management consultant.

Documentary filmmaker Rahul Rao and Saba Diwan, who were also part of the group, said there were just 15 mosques in the city while the population of Muslim community was in lakhs.

"There is a need to build more mosques. The locals are anguished and disturbed over the turn of events in the past few days and want the administration to resolve it amicably," said Roy.

They also demanded that the authority must direct the Town and Country Planning department to provide government plots to build mosques.

Officer D. Suresh said the administration would be more vigilant and firm on troublemakers. He appealed to Muslims to show restraint.

"Those suspected of creating trouble are being identified," the officer said.

Controversy erupted on April 20 when some locals objected to the namaaz, alleging that some people offering the prayers chanted 'Pakistan Zindabad' and 'Hindustan Murdabad'.

Later, six persons were arrested after a FIR was filed for allegedly disrupting the Muslim prayers at a ground in Sector 53 and threatening those offering prayers. They got bail on April 29 on technical grounds.

--IANS

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